Transcripts
1. Introduction & Course Outline: Hello. Welcome to my copyrighting masterclass. Thank you so much for joining me. My name is Sophie Ackroyd. I'm a professional copywriter on freelance marketing consultants. On In this course, I will teach you all of skills that you will need to write Copy that has the power to get people to do what you want them to do. In fact, I'm going to share from tips with you very shortly. That will make your copy instantly smarter, sharper and stop here. Let me start by getting straight to the point. What is copyrighting and why is it so important presently? If you use worse, you use copy, right? Waas. We used them all the time every single day. It's that simple. Many people think that copy writing is this mystical art that magically creates sales. But put more simply, it is how you communicate. It's bigger than marketing tactics. It's every word that you use in your business on websites, even indirectly on email tax, all of those words are opportunity to make people and potential customers connect with you . Copyrighting is the glue that holds your business together and persuade people to do business with you here in just a few examples where every modern business owner will need to write effective. Copy the words you write in your emails. Look posts on on social media, Your website. The list goes on both online and offline. Copy is any piece of writing that has to do with you and your business or your brands. If you use copy in any one of these situations, this course can help. You just goes to show that we are all copywriters to some degree because at some point we have to string words together and put them in a sentence. But the result we all want more copyrighting is to get the reader to take action and whether your copy succeeds or full slat all depends on the copywriter to become an expert copyright, sir, you need the tools and know how that will make your words were wonders. Often your copies. The only thing that determines whether people pay attention to you and your message with words. You have power to make sure that your thing, whatever it is, your business, your brands, you can make sure it gets the attention it deserves or you have to do is make a few key changes to how you think about copy, and it will change your business forever. What about me? I'm Anoxic University graduates, and I studied English language for my undergraduate degree. I have many years experience working in marketing. I have worked in marketing roles on writing copy or companies such as the BBC as well as for personal clients. Andi Small businesses. Plus, I also ran my own successful block for a number of years, with all my experience copyrighting. I know what works. I'll show you the strategies that I have used that have brought me customers and clients. Here's a quick summary of what you're going to bring home from this course. I'll give you the essentials of what you need to know. To get started the foundations of copyrighting clarity, connection and character. We're going to look specifically on how you can put character into your writing off show. You have to find your voice, learn how to write copyrighting that converts in a way that it's still true to who you are . I have the next videos. I'm going to show you a number of different styles that you can adapt in your writing so that you can find the one is the best fit for you. I'm also going to show you the dangers and potential pitfalls of writing with character so you know how to avoid them. I'm going to let you in on some professional tips and tricks that I use to ensure that your writing is concise, high converting but most importantly, sounds like your unique voice along the way. I'll give you tons of examples and exercises so you can put what you're learning into practice right away. So without further ado, let's get stuck in.
2. Class Project & How to Get The Most Out Of This Course: before we get started. This is a quick guide about how to get the most out of this course. The first thing I want you to do is post in the discussion section off this course, which she will find here and tell me what the primary place that you will be writing sizzling copy for with the help of this course, you can also post the link to it if you want me to check it out. My teaching style is concise on did to the point. There is also a lot to learn on a huge number of lectures to get through. You can take it at your own pace. Pause the video wherever you need to take notes on, and you can even slow down if you want to take things slower. If you miss something, you can use this button to skip back by 15 seconds. What I recommend is you actually set the speed toe 1.25 or 1.5, and with through the course initially, it's a lot of information on. The most important thing is that you get through it as we go along. There will be the class project that you can choose to complete The goal of this class project is to create a plan for a piece of copy using all the techniques you will learn in this class, there will be a downloadable planning worksheet to guide you. Now you will learn more about planning methods and the importance of planning later in the class. But what I want to emphasize is that this project does not need to be a complete finished piece off perfect copyrighting. The project is for you to create a plan for your next piece of copy. By uploading your cost project, you will have the opportunity for me to review it as well as your fellow students who take this class. But if you prefer for your project to just be between me and you, you can take this box here to keep your project private. This is a working progress that you can develop an update as you go through the course. It can start with just bullet points, ideas or themes. Whatever sets you up to plan your copy writing in the best way for you. Everyone works differently, so why not start your class project now in the text field here, type the topic or piece of icing that your plan is going to be used for. Then, as you learn throughout this class, you can develop and add to your projects and get feedback as you go. There are also more downloadable pdf worksheets and principles to help you on your copyrighting journey, which you will find here. Make sure that you're following me as an instructor on skill share, which you can do by clicking this button so you can stay up to date with all of my classes on skill share. Most importantly, get stuck in and enjoy learning. I can't wait to get started.
3. The Foundations of Copywriting - The Three C's: before we even start writing before we put pen to paper or type. Because this is the 21st century, it's important to get the essentials right. I'm now going to introduce you to the three fundamental principles that you need to master in order to write successful copy. I'm going to show you that when you don't get these three things right, your copy goes wrong. Those three things are what I like to call the three C's Clarity Connection character. So let's introduce those three C's in order. Clarity is about expressing your ideas in a straightforward manner, because simplicity is the key to success when it comes to sales. Connection is about how you use words, toe bond and former trust with your reader that will get them to do whatever you want them today. And character is how you build trust with your reader by giving your words a personality. Think about it. If the world don't clear, then as the reader you want gonna understand the message on If you don't feel a connection with the words on the page, you certainly are going to make a purchase. If there's no character in the writing then you might just get bored and stop reading all together. And then you've lost a customer. You need to master all of these three qualities. If you want to write successful copy Andi over the next few modules, we're going to look at each of the three C's in more detail with specific examples that you can apply to your writing. I'm going to teach you techniques that you can use to make sure that you're hitting all three C's in your copyrighting every single time. I'll see you in the next lecture.
4. How to Get Clarity In Your Writing: So what is clarity when it comes to copy? Writing clarity is how effectively you communicate your idea. When something is clear, you don't have to think twice about what you just read. You understand that? No question. It's clear what it means when it comes to writing. Copy on pitting yourselves in the market against your competitors. The clearest will always win as a potential customer, and as a reader, ah, confused mind will always say no. So making sure you're writing is crystal clear is essential. Hit a two common mistake people make with their copy. That means it's anything but clear. Number one Overly clever copy. A lot of people think that writing really really long words makes copy more professional. It doesn't We seem to get the idea either from our teachers or parents or wherever that complicated sentences. Using long words jargon, e official sounding language makes us appear somehow more professional or intelligent, and we're actually encouraged to use those long words. People are so keen to shoehorn in that word of the day that they picked up from dictionary dot com. I'm guilty of it when I was writing my essays at University I would right click on look up a synonym for more words than I needed to Andi. I'd always pick the longest word. It wasn't until my tutor pointed out that they have no idea what point I'm trying to make. That I realized longer isn't always better. Many jargon words aren't specific and can therefore cloud your meaning. Writing with clarity means using words are precise and punchy. What do I mean by jargon? You see jargon crop up at work specific areas that may have an official language like resumes and CVS cover letters, reports on even blog's and press releases. Take this example from a school. Governors reports the governing body are agreeing this budget as the financial mechanism to support the education priorities of the school, as identified in a school development plan. On Dwell, a dear to the best value principles in spending its school funding allocation. Who in plain English this means the school governors approved this plan? You can see that jargon can be tiresome and off putting to Reges. It's usually better to use expressions that nail down precisely what you mean on make it crystal clear when you want to create clarity in your copy. Why use words that are too long when short ones will do you need to simplify the writing so it doesn't get in the way of the message? Russell brand, social activist and celebrity, is guilty of this crime and was once in fact awarded the plain English campaigns Foot in Mouth Award, a prize that recognizes his complete gobbledygook in any given debate. Don't get me wrong. I'm a big final Russell brand, but I think he could achieve a lot more if he didn't confuse his meaning with unnecessarily long words. For example, this attitude of churlish indifference seems like nerdish deference. Contrast ID with belligerent antipathy off the indigenous farm folk who regard the hippy dippy intel Oppa's the denizens of the shimmering Tit temples as one face step away from transvestites. That's from his book Revolution. As a reader, I have no idea what this person is trying to say. We're trying to figure it out, but that's the problem. It's trying to be too clever. Have you ever read a piece of writing like this one that has left you scratching your head , wondering what the writer is trying to say we often assume the reason we don't understand what they are trying to say is that we aren't smart enough. But as a copywriter, you learn it's never the readers fault for failing to understand. Something is on the right of for failing to express that properly. A reader should never have to unravel your sentences in order to get to the point where possible, deliver your points head on so readers can make immediate sense of them. The fact that we, as a reader or visitor to a website, have to decode something makes it just a little bit too hard. And then you risk losing your customer. Don't try to appear smart or sophisticated by twisting sentences so much that they become incomprehensible. We all want to appear authoritative and knowledgeable, but we don't want to sacrifice clarity to do so. George Orwell, writer of 1984 and Animal Farm, famously stated in an essay on writing. Never use a long word when a short one will do and he was bang on the money. So make sure you're on the lookout for words that creep into your writing, which are unnecessarily long or two official sounding even day today. Use familiar words wherever possible. Instead, off the interview will comments at 9:30 a.m. Say the interview starts at 9 30 Instead of I will respond to your correspondents tomorrow. Say are go back to you tomorrow instead of utilized. Try use instead of indicative off. Try a sign off instead of attained. How about get You've got to eradicate long words from your writing for the sake of clarity , and you'll soon find that clarity really makes your copy shine. The second thing that can drastically affect clarity is complicated. Copy. We all know what that means. When something is complicated, you can't see a way out in copyrighting. This is where there are too many unnecessary words or ideas. In a piece of writing, for example, the domesticated feline creature reclined on the carpeted tile. What does that mean? Complicated copy does not create mystery or impressed the reader. It creates confusion. Remember, clarity always beat cleverness every time Now, although that sentence may sound sophisticated and intelligent. On the surface, when you break that sentence down or the writer is really trying to say is the cat sat on the mat long complex words or sentences that are overly complicated are actually going to do more harm to your writing than good. So always look for ways of using fewer words so that you don't over complicate your message . Ask yourself, what would the simplest form of this sentence be on in the next lecture? We're going to look at a method for how you can get clarity into your copy every single time.
5. Finding Clarity - A Simple Solution: in the structure, you will discover my simple method for writing with clarity. When copy is crystal clear, you don't have to think twice about what you just read. You understand it. No question. It is clear what it means. That's why bringing clarity to your writing can be the biggest sales boost of for your copy . In this lecture, we're going to look at how you can combat losing clarity in your writing. I like to use this acronym to remind me to keep clarity in my writing, and that is a kiss. Keep it simple, stupid. Admittedly, the stupid part is just to make it easy to remember and to make it a court acronym. But the point still stands. Ask yourself, what is the simplest way that you can write a sentence? How can we keep clarity in our writing here? Awesome. Simple ways to keep it simple. Use short, simple words that anyone can understand, change, unfamiliar language or anything where it's difficult to comprehend what the writer is trying to say. Cut out words you don't need. Find the unnecessary words. Are there any words you can strike out from a sentence without changing the meaning of that sentence. If so, they're unnecessary. Try to keep your writing as tight as possible. Ask of each word whether it is useful and necessary for conveying the idea. Uncomplicated. Your ideas. Avoid any complicated ways that saying simple things aim to reduce your idea to its simplest form so you can express it in a strong, clear and punchy way. Think of it like when you're at the supermarket on before you get to the till you realize that you have too many items. What do you do? Put back the items that you don't need? Take out the unnecessary words and simplified the over complicated ones. For example, a sign of a market that says vintage clothes for sale here. What words can be removed without affecting our understanding off it? Well, we don't need here. For starters, you don't need the words for sale because if the sign is at a market store, it should be obvious that you're selling these items. That leaves you with vintage clothes. Do you even need the word close again? That would be pretty obvious from your market stall. Hopefully or if your customers bargain focused, you could keep the word sale and take out the vintage clothes because again that will be obvious from the content off your store. There's a reason that this single word sale is used in the window of every high street shop . It makes it clear what's going on. There's a sale. Can you see how, when you simplify the sentence and use precise wording, the clarity improves dramatically. I now want you to do a quick exercise. Take this sentence about the music app, shoes, Um, and simplify it. Write it down. If it helps count how many words that are Now, try and get that sentence down to his few words of possible. You can pull this video for a moment and continue when you finish the exercise. Okay, I'm way back. So the original copy for Sha Zam read as follows. Just one tap in the Sha Zam up and we will use our Specter Graham software to detect what music is playing at that very moment. With Sha Zam, you have the power to name any song you are listening to in a matter of seconds. Find new music from the artists you love hearing, so let's see what this sentence would look like without all of those excessively long words . If you're able to get it down to 16 words from 53 as some people are able to do than well done, here's a much more clear version off that copy. She's, um, just one tap name, any song in seconds. Find new music from artists you love. How did I get that down to just 16 words. I deleted the words that are excessively long or use jargon like Specter Graham Software. I deleted the words that are unnecessary. This phrase, for example, is saying the same as this phrase. You only need one on Hey, presto, you have clear, concise copy. The reason I gave you that exercise is so that you can begin to practice the skill and ability to simplify. Keep it simple. If you've got your sentence down to the basic idea, you want to tell your readers than you'll be able to achieve clarity in your copyrighting
6. Copywriting Foundations - The Second 'C': Now that we've covered clarity in this next lecture, we're going to move on to the second off those three C's connection. If you want to write effective copy, you have to connect with your reader. You have to make the customer feel like you are speaking directly to them on that the words you have written were written especially for them. Now, what people get wrong is that they put the focus on you, the writer on your business and your product and no, the reader. This is about using words that strike a chord with your ideal customer and generating that who I want that now feeling with the reader. Two things you need to know If you want to genuinely connect with your audience, number one know exactly who you are talking to a number two. You need to learn the words that they used to describe what they're looking for. So looking at point number one that get inside your readers head know who you're talking to . I'm right. Copy that answers what they want, not just what you think is important. The most effective coffee writing starts inside the readers head, not yours. A common state people make with their writing is that it's too self centered. So what causes that? Focusing on what you think is important about your product or your service instead of what your customer believes? It's important. Number two, and it's very closely linked with Point number one. But many writers make the mistake of choosing the wrong vocabulary for their target audience. You may have noticed that every person has their own unique recovery. You have one, and by all means you can use it in your copy, but only if it's suitable for your audience. If your recovery is different to your audience, you need to change up your vocabulary and start speaking that language. Any word doesn't fit your readers. Recovery is now a no go. Big words can call views a reader and put them off so your recovery should be dictated by two things. Yours on your audiences Recovery. This Ben diagram demonstrates this On the left. We have your words, your own recovery and your language on on the right. You have your customers, words, their language, their recovery and your copy should use your customers words. But in a way that still sounds like you. Where people go wrong is when they use to money off their own words. What you really want to be using is the words your customer users. That's the sweet spot for writing copy. Here's the thing. Everyone talks to themselves and during heads with their own words and phrases on that includes your audience. So if you want to connect, you have to know the words they use now. That's easier said than done. How exactly do you learn the language that your customer speaks? Well, some of the work has done for you already or you have to do is steal their words from them literally. Find the places where your customers hang out online. This might be chat forums, social media or the comment section on articles, Amazon reviews and so on. Then, once you've got that information, open up a spreadsheet or text document and copy and paste the phrases that catch your eye. Look out for recurring phrases, pain points and emotions. That is your copy. Rising gold dust. Once you've built up a sizeable store of soundbites, start to work them into the text that you're writing. When you're writing copy, Ask yourself. Are these the words my customer uses? Am I speaking my customers language? Always use words your customer wants to hear. Andi. As long as you can deliver, your copy will always be on points. You should also consider the medium you are writing. Four. How you write on your website will be very different to how you write on a social media channel, for example. No, you're medium on the star that prevails there before you start writing. If you're composing copy for Twitter because of the character limit by nature, your copy needs to be shorter. And yet I've seen people got being paste the words from their website and divided up over several tweets, and it simply isn't going to work because the words are the wrong fit for that audience on Twitter, the key is understanding how to adapt your copy. A website has space for paragraphs, headers and so on. Social media often doesn't, so you just need to write enough to make people want to click on the link. When a potential customer is reading a piece of copy, it needs to resonate, and with the right word choices, it can. So in the next lecture, we're going to look at a simple solution so you can create a connection with the reader every single time.
7. The Focus Method : connection in copyrighting is all about using words that strike a chord with your ideal customer. I'm now going to show you one technique that I use to connect powerful Lee with your potential customer. It is a subtle but important shift that instantly helps you connect better with your audience and increase business. It's called the focus method, based on one simple idea. Imagine your copyrighting is like a camera When you're shooting, the focus can either be on you or your customer. If it's on you, it's on your business, your cleverness and your goals. It's all me, me, me. When it's on the customer, the focus is on. The people you serve there needs their problems and their goals. Unfortunately, most of us get that wrong, especially when it comes to our writing. Generally speaking, we pull way too much of that focus on ourselves and know our customers. It's all may, but in business, our customers want to be seen and heard and acknowledged, so we want to put them in focus, not the other way round to show you this in action. Let's take a look at an example where a brand gets connection drastically wrong. This is an example from a motorcycling company. Their copy reads as follows. We've pulled out all the stops to create the finest helmet in motorcycling. We've reimagined how to keep you safe and comfortable. If this helmet meets impact, we've got you protected. We have spent years researching the rev it helmets and were hugely proud of it in this copy . There is a lot of we do this and we offer that, but not very much about the actual benefits to the customer. If you're trying to write persuasive copy telling the reader why they will benefit is a great idea. So make it more about you, the customer. Unless about us. Count the pronouns here There's five mentions of we and only two of you. This is the copyrighting equivalent of shouting me. Me, Me? Yes, it's reassuring to know how much time wherever it has put into the helmet. But the reader is more interested in how the helmet will make them feel. Know how the company who made it feels about it. So don't make it about you. Make it about the customer, your target audience. I see this problem all the time with copy. So how do we fix it? Well, here's how I would rewrite that. Copy your motorcycle helmets is the one thing you don't want to compromise on. You need something that's comfortable, stylish, but above all, safe years of research has gone into creating the best rocket helmet for you, combining the highest level of protection, design and quality. So as you can see that this copy is way more customer focused, so start putting this into practice. Now take one area of your website and use the focus method to improve it, so your copy is more customer focused. That way you'll be sure to create a connection, and connections can lead to sales. And just as a clue for a good place to start with this focus method, the about page of people's websites is usually always written with the focus pointing in the wrong direction. If you want to have an instant advantage over your competitors, there's only one way to win. You must switch the focus of your copy on when you do. You'll get that all important connection. Once you begin to write better with more customer centric copy, it allows you to create a stronger connection with your audience. Next will be moving on to the third and final see for copyrighting after clarity in connection, and that is character.
8. Writing With Character: character is the personality in your writing, and it plays an important part with connection, because the reader will want to feel like they're reading the words of a real person, not a boring corporate join. If there's no personality, no character in your writing, people are not going to connect, and they certainly are going to make a purchase or take the action that you want them to take. It's easy to sport copy that has no character. It's the copy that you skip over. It's academic, dry, stiff and robotic. We'll copy toe have character you're writing needs to sound like a genuine person. But that doesn't come naturally for all of us. And many make the mistake off thinking that in order for you to be taken seriously, your writing has to sound serious. Now, when it comes to character, there are two key parts to your writing, and they are voice. Andi Tope voice is your personality, your style and beliefs, and if you aren't writing from your personal perspective, then your brand voice should have a persona to. So if your voice is your overall personality, tone is how you want your weeded to perceive you at that moment in time, your tone can be aggressive. How dare you? Playful or sarcastic, your voice should be well defined part of you and your grand. But your tone can vary because you can adapt your tone to your audience. Depending on the context, voice and tone add up to character, and with that, you can turn your copy from a statement of facts to a way to connect with your audience and your potential customer. Good copy drives an audience to take action, and with the right voice and tone, it will make your reader feel confident in what you are encouraging them to do Or boy. Now one of the biggest problems people in council when they start writing their own copy is that they end up sounding either like a cheesy infomercial or like a boring robot. It just doesn't feel like you, But with the right tools, you can sound like you and get results. The first thing to remember is not to confuse for more with professional. Don't think. In order to be taken seriously, you have to keep your writing proper. There are many ways you can inject character into your writing, and I'm going to start with one quick and neat trick that you can use with your copy
9. Character Quick Fix: so you want to add character to your copy. You want it to pop with personality, but I want to let you in on one really easy trick you can use that will instantly transform your writing. And that is drum roll, please. Contractions, contractions are those combined words. You were used them from time to time in your day to day speech that the words you joined together with an apostrophe you will becomes you'll and do not is. Don't you get the idea. As soon as you start to incorporate contractions into your copy, you'll be amazed at the difference. For example, here is a piece of copy without using any contractions. In this book, we will prove why you do not need to worry if you are overweight with contractions, it reads as follows in his book will prove Why you don't need to worry if you're overweight . Can you see how, just by using contractions, the same sentence sounds so much more natural? Here's another example you will never guess who is coming to this event becomes. You'll never guess who's coming to this event. This little trick is something you can start using right now, for your writing, and it will instantly have more warmth at character and found more like you or with help off a little contraction. I'll leave you with a list as a resource off common contractions that you can update your copy with right now so that you can bring some all important character to your writing.
10. Find Your Voice - Write Like You Talk: When writing has character, it leaps off the page. As the reader, you can't turn away. The first step to writing Great copy is writing like you, and if you're not sure who you is yet in your copyrighting, that's okay, Don't worry, but you will need to figure out if you want to, like dazzling copy. And that's where this course could help. You want to sound genuine and use your personality in your writing, but you still want to be seen as professional. It can seem like a Catch 22 but it is possible to write Copy. That sounds true to your voice, Andi, that gets people to love and by what you sell writing that comes from your heart that can be sassy without being sleazy and persuasive without being pushy. So how can you create that sense of trust and character in your writing? How can you sound like you instead of cells E or dry? One rule I always abide by Is this right? Like Utah? If someone spoke to you about a subject you are truly passionate about, chances are you would be passionate and persuasive, but for some reason, as soon as people start writing their ideas down. All the life disappears from what they are saying. So that's why you should always aim to write like you talk when you are writing copy. Don't be afraid to put you in it, right with personality, right with passion. That's what makes writing come alive. One of the most useful pieces of advice I've discovered about writing as this one liner. If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it. You want your copy to sound conversational, as if the reader was having a private chat with you in person. There's a number of ways you can get into the habit of writing like you talk. Imagine that. You explaining your business model to a friend in the pub back when you first had the idea . Remember that excitement and enthusiasm you had? You can even record yourself talking if that helps. We've already looked at how you can use contractions to make your writing more conversational. I've got a few more grammatical tricks up my sleeve that I'll show you now. When it comes to groaner, don't be afraid to break the rules. One thing you'll notice is that when you're speaking, there are some rules that fall by the wayside? No, I'm not saying to throw the grammar book out the window here, but there are some rules you can bending copyrighting that will make it sound more like you . In fact, you can break any grammar rule in copyrighting as long as doing so makes your copy sound conversational and more appealing to your target audience without negatively affecting your business Is professional image. Starting a sentence with a proposition back in school was a big no no, But you're not writing for your high school English teacher here. In copyright, think anything goes if it makes your writing more powerful so you can start a sentence with the word and or but, for example, writing This may not be grammatically proper, but it can make your content flow much better. And that's what it's all about. Can you see how this makes your writing more natural, more readable and more relatable? Read it out loud. Another great check you can use for copyrighting is to read it out loud, and I mean out loud, not muttered under your breath. This might sound a little crazy, but it's a technique I picked up when I was studying at Oxford University every week. In the tutorial, we would have to read out the essay we had written to the tutor, which was terrifying in itself. But as soon as you start reading those words on the page, you immediately realize if you're writing isn't flowing as it should. If you find you run out of breath while reading a sentence, that means that it's too long and you should think about dividing it up into two or more sentences. If you trip over word, that probably means that word is unnecessary or not. The right vocabulary choice. But most of all, when you read your copy out loud, it's very obvious if your words sound like you. So start with these steps to work on the voice and tone of your writing on build character . Don't be afraid to break the rules. Sometimes when it comes to Gramma, read it out loud, and before you know it, you'll be able to write like you talk and create killer copy that's bursting with character
11. The One BIG Mistake to Avoid in your Copywriting: many writers that are new to copyrighting make this one big mistake, which cannot only kill sales but destroy your credibility. And that is, if you use character in the wrong way. Whilst character can totally seal the deal for your copyrighting. If you get it wrong, it can be disastrous. Now, if you recall back to the start of this module, I introduce character in writing as a combination of voice and tone. Now, when a copy writing goes wrong, it is almost always down to tone. Tone is determined by your word choice and the formality off your writing, which has mentioned you want to match to your ideal customer. However, you can run the risk of taking this too far, and that's when it can backfire. Let's look at this graphic to demonstrate this technical piece of equipment that I have invented for the sake of this lecture is thesis slang ometer. It's a working title, but as you can see on the left, we have very formal writing. If you take it to the extreme, your writing will be stuffy and stilted on the right. We have slang, the collect quill words that people use in day today. Spoken word. This is what people could run into trouble. While I advised you to use the words of your audience, you can run the risk of seeming patronizing if you appropriate it in an overly exaggerated way. Using too much Lang will make your writing sound immature, as opposed to positioning yourself as the expert. For example, on the formal site of Copyrighting I Wish to inform you that does Sneakers wash will save you time when your speakers require cleaning and at the other end off the spectrum with slang dodge beef with your dirty sneakers. Dad sneakers wash is bare powerful in it. Yeah, this lying version is so much more cringed in the formal version, but they are both wrong. From one point of view. It's easy to see how copywriters might use slang to this extent with the example on the right after rule. We all want to get closer to the audience, right, but it's slang words are used incorrectly, like in this example, you wouldn't I don't think you would say Dodge beef. You'd say something like Someone is giving you beef. Andi. With that basic error, you can end up sounding like that embarrassing uncle, a Christmas that's talking like he's trying to get down with the kids on what's what. It looks unprofessional when you use slang words in the wrong way. So how can we come at this? I don't want to discourage you from using slang word, especially if that's the language that your target audience use. However, if you're using slang words that you are unfamiliar with, do your research first. See how these words are used within a sentence to avoid any embarrassing slang slip ups. If you want to achieve the correct tone with your copy, writing what you want to aim for is somewhere in the middle. There is the golden zone of conversational copy. No time to clean your sneakers. No problem does. Sneakers wash has got you covered because YOLO it's natural. It doesn't sound forced, and you're using a mixture of a bit of slang. But mostly keeping it conversational by all means include sighing in your copyrighting if your ideal client uses slang in their everyday language, but you don't have to make all of your copy 100% slide, and it goes without saying. Don't use slang if your ideal customer doesn't use, thank you could end up alienating your reader if you use a word they aren't familiar with, like the word YOLO. If your target audience wouldn't know what that acronym stands for. Ultimately, you want a warm, chatty tone of voice, like friends used to one another. Find a balance for your tone, and then you'll be hitting the right note with your writing. So to summarize, Here are my must followed Do's and dont's for writing in your true voice without looking like you're trying too hard. Do steal slang words from your audience that you can use in your copy. Do your research so that you used these words correctly and avoid any embarrassing copyrighting fails. Do you find the right balance that makes a copyrighting tone conversational? Don't be overly formal, but don't be overly slanging. Finally, make sure that you don't use slang just for the sake of it. And in the next lecture, we're going to look at a number of different styles that you can use to bring your copy writing to life
12. What's Your Style?: copyrighting works best when it's conversational. The words you write should sound like your natural voice without it being too formal or using too much slang vocabulary, no matter what your tone copy can come in many different forms and styles. And this is part of what adds character and brings your writing to life. To be a successful copywriter, you'll need to figure out what your writing style is. You may even find that you need a number of different styles of writing that you can call upon for different situations. So in this lecture we're going to look at the four different styles that you can use in your writing. If the three C's are the foundations of copyrighting, these are the four pillars that you need to write Great copy style. Number one is narrative copyrighting. This is where you we've a narrative or a story into your words. Sometimes a straight forward statement of the facts isn't compelling enough. So with narrative writing, you want to describe a situation, tell a story, paint a picture with your words, and described the journey. Narrative writing can be a powerful way to present our information, including, or the fine details, and it works especially well when you have a story to tell or a personal journey to describe. You'll often find the style of writing on Lee about page of our website or otherwise, in block posts, where you know you'll have the reader's attention. For a while. An example of this narrative style of copyrighting would be as follows. 80 years ago, my grandfather got a job as an apprentice at a small Garrigues endorse it. Now that small Garrett is the biggest motor mechanic franchise in the UK, but we still give the same service as we did back then. Star number two is matter of fact, as the name of this one suggests, when a piece of copy is matter of fact, the content is factual, with little filler or flowery adjectives. It gets straight to the point with the information that your readers need to write in the style or you need is to keep your copy straightforward. Think exactly what your reader needs to know and describe that situations where this star would be suitable, maybe on product pages of your website, where the reader has hopefully already read your sales pitch and They just need the cold, hard facts such as the price and the size and so on. For this example, here's how we would write that text in the matter of fact style. Our mechanic franchise was founded in 1958 in Dorset. We now have 40 carriages across the UK Understand ID MOT costs £100. Style number three is question and answer copyrighting. This takes conversational copy to the next level because it actually includes the other side of the conversation. In a question and arts of four months, it becomes a back and forth between the reader and the writer as if you were having an actual conversation directly with them. This style of copyrighting can work perfectly for describing a service on your websites F A Q page, and it is often used in email marketing. You can, for example, use the question part of this former to pose any doubts the reader may have before knocking them down. For example, am I restricted to the carriage I registered with? Certainly not. There are 40 carriages across UK on our customers are welcome at any whether you're from Devon, but you break down in Darby. No problem. You can also see how you could use this technique to combat a problem or a commonly asked question for your reader. And finally, we have what I like to call creative copy writing. Here. The reader may use some creative license to inject imagination or humor into their writing . The tone is deeply casual and conversational. You hook the reader in, perhaps with a joke or with your informal tone. The classic example off this style is with innocence movies who have a copy writing that is so distinct it is often even parodied. On the Web page, for example, it says this Hello were innocent and were here to make it easy for people to do themselves some good whilst making it taste nice to one technique they often use with. This style is parenthesis. Parenthesis means phrases in brackets or dashes within a sentence that are written as an aside to the reader. This creates intimacy with the reader because it feels like in that moment the writer is whispering directly to them so you can use it to win your reader over So copy can come in a combination of different styles, narrative matter of fact, question and answer and creative. When you start becomes part of your brand, like with innocent, it strengthens your products to choose a style of writing and sticks to it. But you don't necessarily have to stick to one start the whole time. The key here is finding what starts suits your needs in each situation, depending on the goal behind your copy writing one of thes stars, maybe more suitable than others. So here's a summary of each style, with a scenario where they would be appropriate narrative right, a narrative, real or fictional about your product to hook the reader in why people find it easier to identify with the product if they notice story behind it. When if your products value can be explained through a lesson or an example matter. Effect clearly described and convey information using fax on a straightforward tone to provide exact details. Customers need to make choices about the size and specification. Use it when your customer is ready to buy, and they simply need specific details about the product. Q. And a copy. Your copy is conversational, showing both sides of the debate in the back and force it can be easier for readers to identify with this style of writing. Use it when there are commonly asked questions from readers about your products. Creative copyrighting appeal to the reader with Huma imaginative scenarios. This style engages three dead and get them on your side. This copy can be used anywhere if it suits your branding.
13. One Short Writing Exercise and One Small Favour...: This is the part where I awkwardly ask you for a review, but this time there's a little twist. I hate to interrupt your learning, but it would mean so much to me if you could kindly spare two minutes of your time to help to improve this course. I would be so grateful if you could be review and tell me about your experience so far and to make it more interesting, why not try this? If you are leaving a recent review, adopt one of the four writing stars that we have covered in the last lecture. This could be your chance to put what you have learned into practice. You could leave a factual account of what you have left. You could make a conversational Q and A about topics that we've covered. You get the idea. Reviews are so vital for instructors on they are my father. Best way for me to get feedback on this course on, make it the highest quality it can be from my students. I want this course to be the very best course about corporate writing, but I can only do that with your help. I am more than happy to change the content off this course if you think it needs it, because I know from my students as much as you're learning from this course in case they're not sure how to leave. Review. I have made a quick demonstration video to show you on. As I said, it shouldn't take longer than two minutes. Thank you in advance for your help. I look forward to reading your expertly Whiston reviews on hope that you enjoy the rest of the course to leave a review on skill share when you are on the class page like so, if you scroll down, you will see that there is a reviews tap on the right. If you select the button here that says Leave review skill share will then present you with a series of short questions about the class. Andi, Right at the bottom, you have the option to leave a few words if he wish. When you're done, hit, submit, review and that's it. Reviews really help me to continue making great courses and content for you guys, so thank you for taking the time to watch this video and thanks in advance for leaving a review
14. Plan Like A Pro: The next professional technique I'm going to show you is planning now. It's not the most exciting or glamorous part of copyrighting, I'll admit, but it has to be done. People often miss out on this vital step and try to just freestyle it. But all the pros make a plan and stick to it. Poor planning leads Toa unclear copy In this lecture, I'm going to explain the reasons why making a detailed plan is so important and leave you with a planning checklist that is easy to follow and will enable you to make a plan for your copy in no time. I think people shy away from planning because it seems like extra effort. If you have to make a plan before you even write your copy and do a thing before you do another thing, it may appear like it would take longer. But in the long run, your copy is going to be so much better, clearer and more concise with a carefully thought out plan, and the writing process will be quicker to when you know exactly what you want to say. So to get you into the practice of planning, here are my top tips. Be clear on your subject. Here. You want to boil down what you want to write your copy about toe. One simple concept or idea. Imagine that you are explaining the subject of your copy in one sentence to a five year old . Make it that simple. This way, you figure out what is important. Stripped back the idea for your copy to its most essential elements Once you've got it down to a few words, ideally, even just one, write it in big Capital letters at the top of your planning page. Have your reader in mind as well as your subject. You need to know exactly who you are writing your copy for your audience. Picture the person you are writing copy four. Then right down the pronoun that you will be using to address that person in capitals at the top of the page. Most of the time it will be you. This will help focus your mind on your reader and stop your plan and therefore your copy from becoming me centric. Third thing to consider for your plan is your call to action. Determine your CT A or the goal for your copy before you start writing. What do you want your readers to do after reading your copy? Once you decided on that, you've guessed it, right? It at the top of the page. If you're stuck for ideas, ask yourself. What do you want people to do after reading? Answer this question toe. Have a clear idea off what your call to action is. So by now you will have the three most important things written in bold across the top off your planning page. This is to remind you to never forget them when you're planning and writing your copy. Once you know the core of your message, your audience and your call to action, then next you can move on to our outline you're planning Outline is a road map to get you to the end result. You can break it down into smaller sections of copy, and how you divide up those sections will be entirely up to you and how you decide best to structure your copy. But a common format on one that I like to youth and planning is as follows Headline subhead a your introduction where you consider what attention grabber you're going to use to hook your readers in. You're supportive points. This is what forms the bulk of your copy your benefits and value of your product on Do I like to bullet point those? So one bullet per point I will be making and then your clothes, your reminder of the main point with a CT a button. With this outline, you know exactly what you're going to write out, and if you stick to it, you know your copy will be clear, concise and on point because you've planned out a path to get there. Finally, write the copy. Don't spend too long on planning the main effort should after what we put into the copy itself, that planning does truly help that along. Once you finished, compare your final copy against your outline. Ask yourself, Do you have any copy that isn't essential to your readers understanding off your message in bold at the top of the page? If so, get rid of it. You can tweak your finish copy according to your outline until you're happy with the final product. I'm going to leave you with my planning template that you can use and fill in to create your own plan for your copyrighting
15. Conclusion - Apply Your Knowledge: That brings us to the end of this course. Thank you so much for watching. I really hope that you've enjoyed it. Learn from it, and that you can already start to see an improvement in your copyrighting. The hard work starts. Now, you've learned all of these copywriting techniques, but now you need to actually apply these techniques to your writing. You have all the tools you need to turn your copy from dry, dull writing, a dazzling client, attracting copy. If you haven't already been applying these techniques as he went along with the course, start doing so right now, here's a recap of the key action points to take away from this course, the foundations of copyrighting. Always remember to have clarity, connection, and character in your copy, and you can't go far wrong. In module two, we looked at finding your voice. Find a style that suits you and your needs and compose your copy with personality and character. If you follow all of these steps before you know it, you will see how your copy has the power to convert your readers into clients. Please do make sure that you complete the class project. Don't be shy. A work in progress is better than nothing at all. And by sharing it, you have the chance for me to review it, as well as your fellow students who also take this class. If you have any questions along the way, you can post them in the discussion area of the class. And if you enjoyed this course, make sure that you are following me as an instructor on Skill Share so you can stay up to date with any new classes that I publish in the future. Why not start right now and put all that you have learned into practice with a new piece of writing. Or you could rewrite an existing piece of copy that you have from your website or an old cover letter. Use this course to guide you. Integrate these techniques into your rising and start to become conscious of them when you're reading as well. By doing that, you start to develop a sense of tone and style and get a feel for what makes great copy every day that you put it off, you leaving behind a potential client or sale. So take action. Now, I wish you all the best in your copyrights. You journey and I hope to see you in another course very soon.
SuperSoph, Copywriting Consultant & Writer
